six

                                    

                                          
the following week was quiet. ward and rose had come back, grounded both rafe and sarah, though sarah's was hardly a grounding, she was allowed to do whatever, she just had to tell them first. rafe on the other hand, was only let out for school. and all this information, i'd gotten from katie, who'd gotten it from sarah. 
                          
while my entire family was out, at school and work, i was sat in my room again. i had a paper in front of me, a rough sketch of what i wanted to do with my room. it was still empty, and i hadn't bothered to go shopping for anything yet. i kind of liked how bare it was, but my mom was tired of me sleeping in the guest room, so my dad was picking up a mattress on his way back from a meeting. 
                          
i wasn't really sure what else i needed. a bed frame seemed like a waste of money. a dresser was stupid, i had a closet. night stands? if i didn't have a bed frame, then they were useless. art for the walls? ridiculous, my room was for sleeping, not for being an art museum. 
                          
a shelf for all the books i didn't own anymore? or for all the pictures i'd thrown out? it was all just pointless, but my mom didn't see it that way so she was making me get it all, the full blown kook privilege, having shit we didn't need. 
                          
i laid back on the hardwood floor, looking up as i saw a face. i screamed, jumping and pushing myself to slide away as i looked at the person, seeing rafe. 
                          
"what the hell are you doing here?" i yelled at him. "you scared the shit out of me." 
                          
"i think i got that, with the scream and all." he said. 
                          
"seriously, what the hell are you doing here?" i asked. 
                          
"i'm kidnapping you." he said and held his hand out for me. "come on, we have somewhere to be." 
                          
"what?" 
                          
"come on," he smiled. "just trust me." 
                          
"how did you even get into my house?" 
                          
"your back door was unlocked." he shrugged. 
                          
"that's really creepy rafe." i said. "and shouldn't you be in school?" 
                          
"i left a little early." he shrugged. "now, my arm is getting tired, can you just trust me?" 
                          
i took a breath, "why should i?" 
                          
"because," he smiled. "your room is still empty, and until it's full, you have to believe in fresh starts." 
                          
"maybe that's why my room is still empty." i shrugged. "maybe i'm not completely ready for a fresh start." 
                          
"no way," he shook his head and squatted in front of me. "lynn, you're keeping this room empty because you want to start over, a super clean slate. now, let me apologize to you in the best way possible." 
                          
"no, i'm not leaving." i shook my head. 
                          
"yeah, that's not how this is going to go." he said and grabbed me, swiftly pulling me to my feet. 
                          
"rafe," i tried to pull from his reach. "let me go." 
                          
"nope," he threw me over his shoulder. i squirmed as he held on to me tight, walking down the stairs and out the back door, towards the boat that he'd parked at my dock. 
                          
"your dad is going to kill you." i said. "you're grounded." 
                          
"let him." he said and sat me down on the boat. he turned undoing the rope before starting it up, driving off fast. 
                          
"where are we going rafe?" i asked. "i was trying to make my mom happy and design my room." 
                          
"it's a secret, i promise, you'll be okay."